Sanitary bathroom item storage unit

ABSTRACT

A bathroom storage device that effectively stores a plunger, toilet bowl brush, and other bathroom accessories in a space saving, decorative, and easily accessible manner while preserving the hygienic and sanitary qualities needed in such an environment by totally isolating the plunger in its own compartment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention

Functional, and more importantly, sanitary storage for a toilet plungerposes a difficult problem for nearly every household. This invention,the sanitary bathroom item storage unit provides a manner to store thesecommon and necessary items in a sanitary manner and in a practical,condensed and easily accessible location. Furthermore the design of theproposed invention would allow storage of other bathroom cleansingitems, such as cleansers and gloves, in its space saving, organized, andaesthetically pleasing manner. This unit would also store and provideconvenient access to additional toilet tissue when needed. As a result,it would eliminate those embarrassing moments of being caught withouttoilet tissue nearby. With the sanitary bathroom item storage unit, aplunger, toilet bowl brush, bathroom cleansing agents, etc., would bereadily available and easily accessible when needed. This decorativestorage unit would be easy to use, clean and hygienic.

BACKGROUND

2. Prior Art

Examples of prior art patents include U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,993, U.S. Pat.No. 5,984,100, U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,059, U.S. Pat. No. 6,769,542, U.S.Pat. No. 3,429,474, U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,818, U.S. Pat. Des. 403,906, andU.S. Patent Application 2002/0125168. Evidently, there have been anumber of patents and applications that suggest similar bathroom storagedevices, but they all lack one very important characteristic that thisinvention, the sanitary bathroom item storage unit, embodies. Thatcommon characteristic and disadvantage that all of the aforementionedprior art shares is that they don't provide the toilet plunger a uniqueencapsulated space to preserve the sanitary and hygienic integrity thatwould be so desired in a bathroom environment.

In conclusion, insofar as I am aware, no bathroom storage deviceeffectively stores a plunger, toilet bowl brush, and other bathroomitems/accessories in a space saving, decorative, and easily accessiblemanner while preserving the hygienic and sanitary qualities needed insuch an environment by totally isolating the toilet plunger in its ownsealed cavity.

SUMMARY

The invention, sanitary bathroom item storage unit, is comprised of acylindrical plunger canister with an inner central tube, a base, and alid. The plunger canister, the base, and the lid all attach via amechanical means (friction-fit, latches, screw-on, etc.) to form theassembled storage unit. Despite prior inventions that are similar to thesanitary bathroom item storage unit, there remains a need for animproved storage unit that will fulfill the following needs:

-   -   1. provide for the sanitary storage of a toilet plunger    -   2. provide for the convenient storage of additional bathroom        items/accessories    -   3. provide for the storage of multiple rolls of toilet tissue    -   4. provide for an aesthetically pleasing container that totally        conceals a toilet plunger and stores a toilet bowl brush and        additional bathroom accessories in a self-contained,        free-standing, and portable/moveable storage device

The sanitary bathroom item storage unit and its features and advantageswill become more apparent from the following detailed description, whichproceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DRAWINGS Figures

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of the invention, showing thecomponents and their relationship.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled invention, but showing thetop not installed.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the assembled completely assembledinvention.

DRAWINGS Reference Numerals

-   -   10 Sanitary bathroom item storage unit    -   11 lid    -   12 toilet tissue    -   13 inner centralized tube    -   14 toilet plunger canister    -   15 base    -   16 toilet plunger    -   30 plunger cavity

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in the detailed drawings, the sanitary bathroom item storageunit 10 shows a concept for sanitarily storing a toilet plunger andtoilet tissue rolls 12 in a centralized and organized manner. Sanitaryintegrity in the unit is maintained by the use of the plunger canister14 with the inner centralized tube 13 in conjunction with the base 15.As shown in FIG. 1 the inner centralized tube 13 has one open endpositioned at the bottom of the plunger canister 14, and oppositely hasone closed end. The plunger canister 14 has a convex-curved baseplatelocated at the bottom of the assembly. The baseplate permits clearanceto fit the profile of any commercially available toilet plunger. Asshown in FIG. 1-3, a toilet plunger 16 is placed inside thebowl-bottomed base 15, and the plunger canister 14 on top of the toiletplunger 16 with the toilet plunger handle inserted into the opening onthe bottom of the inner centralized tube 13. As shown in thecross-sectional drawing of FIG. 3, when the plunger canister 14 issecured to the base 15, the plunger 16 is isolated in its own cavity 30inside the unit. This feature maintains the hygienic and sanitaryqualities of the sanitary bathroom item storage unit. The bowl-bottomedbase 15 provides for the collection of any water from the use of thetoilet plunger in its normal operation. The end of the plunger canister14 opposite the base is open except for the closed end of the innercentralized tube 13. The inner centralized tube 13 is located inside theplunger canister at the vertex to allow toilet tissue rolls 12 to beplace about it as shown in FIG. 2-3.

The plunger canister 14, the lid 11, and the base 15 of this inventioncan be made out of metal, such as aluminum or stainless steel, a moldedplastic, ceramic, or any material deemed well-suiting by anyone skilledin the art.

In the preferred embodiment, the sanitary bathroom item storage unit isused as a toilet plunger, toilet brush, bathroom accessory, and toilettissue roll storage device. The toilet plunger canister employs twopockets to store cleansing gloves and a can of a commercially availablecleansing solution. The plunger canister and removable base also employsa mechanical latching mechanism to secure the two pieces in a rigidmanner. This latching feature would maintain the isolation of theplunger inside the unit and also facilitate moving the entire unit fromlocation to location. The plunger canister would employ two handles onthe opposite end of the base, which would pass through two correspondingopenings in the lid. When the lid is placed on the canister thesehandles would also facilitate moving the assembled unit from location tolocation.

In another embodiment of the proposed invention, the top of the storageunit would provide a means to dispense a toilet roll.

In another embodiment of the proposed invention, the toilet tissuestorage compartment would employ a spring loaded base to automaticallyadvance the next roll of toilet tissue in storage to the top of thecompartment.

In another embodiment of the proposed invention, unit would employpockets on the exterior of the plunger canister to provide additionalstorage locations for bathroom items/accessories.

The above description(s) has described specific details in theembodiment of the invention. However, one having skill in the art canmake modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of theunderlying inventive concept of the sanitary bathroom item storage unit.

To use the sanitary bathroom item storage unit 10, one would first placethe base 15 on a floor and then place any commercially available plunger16 on the base 15. Next, the toilet plunger canister 14 would be placedon top of the base and plunger with the plunger's handle inserted intothe inner centralized tube 13. Any commercially available toilet tissuerolls would then be inserted into the top of the toilet plunger canisterwith the inner centralized tube inserted into the center hole of eachroll. To access the plunger at a time when its use is needed the toiletplunger canister would simply be lifted vertically to uncover theplunger and its handle. It would be set aside so the plunger could beaccessed. Normal cleaning and disinfecting of the base would be routinemaintenance of the invention.

1. A sanitary bathroom item storage unit, comprising: (a) a cylindricalplunger canister with a convex curved baseplate, and (b) an innercentral tube in said cylindrical plunger canister formed by a centrallylocated bore in the baseplate of the canister that leads to a verticaltube not longer that the length of the canister and which terminates ina sealed top, and (c) a bowl-bottomed base that fits about the convexbaseplate of the cylindrical plunger canister, and (d) a lid for theplunger canister, and whereby, a toilet plunger rests inside the bowlshaped base and the vertically protruding handle of the plunger ishoused inside the inner central tube of the plunger canister andmultiple rolls of toilet paper can be mounted axially around thevertical inner central tube inside the plunger canister.
 2. The sanitarybathroom item storage unit according to claim 1 wherein the outermostsurfaces of the cylindrical plunger canister, the base, and the lid isat least covered partially covered with decorative elements.
 3. Thesanitary bathroom unit according to claim 1 wherein a unique cavity fora toilet plunger is formed by the combination of the inner central tubeof the plunger canister and the bowl shaped base.
 4. The sanitarybathroom unit according to claim 1 wherein the plunger canister, lid,and base are secured in a rigid fashion by mechanical means.